House/Senate Conference Committees have been at work since mid-May
trying to reconcile differences in the House and Senate-passed versions of
the four appropriations bills listed above. On Thursday, June 8, the
conference committees came to an agreement on the budget. At press time, the
House Ways and Means Committee was in the midst of preparing a report
summarizing budget highlights; this report will be distributed to House
members upon returning for the statewide session beginning Monday, June 12.

Restructuring of Commission on Higher Education (S. 365, Sen.
Setzler). Currently, South Carolina's Commission on Higher Education is
governed by an 18-member commission, with the governor appointing 2 members
from each of the state's 6 congressional districts (upon recommendation of
each district's legislative delegation) and also appointing (with the advice
and consent of the Senate) 6 "at-large" members. If S. 365 is adopted,
however, the commission's size would be reduced to 11 members, all of whom
would be appointed by the governor, with 6 of these members representing
congressional districts (1 from each district); 3 representing the state's
public colleges and universities; 1 representing independent colleges and
universities; and 1 member being "at-large" and serving as chairman. These
11 members would be required to meet various qualifications, as follows:

(a) Congressional appointees: Members appointed by the governor to
represent congressional districts must have the advice and consent of the
Senate. Each such appointee must have experience in business, the education
of future leaders and teachers, management or policy. Additionally, these
appointees must not have been, during the succeeding 5 years, a member of
a governing body of a public institution of higher learning in this State,
and must not be employed or have immediate family members employed by any
of the State's public colleges and universities. These appointees could
serve a maximum of 2-consecutive 4-year terms.
(b) Representatives of Public Colleges and Universities: Would serve
ex-officio, with the bill specifying that it would not be a conflict of
interest for a voting ex-officio member to vote on matters pertaining to
their individual college or university. Of these 3 appointees, 1 must serve
on the board of trustees of 1 of South Carolina's public senior research
institutions (Medical University of South Carolina, Clemson University,
University of South Carolina); 1 must serve on the board of trustees of 1
of the public 4-year institutions of higher learning (e.g., The Citadel,
South Carolina State University, Winthrop University, etc.); and 1 member
must be a member of the local area technical education commissions or the
State Board for Technical and Comprehensive Education. These appointees
would serve 2-year terms, with no institution represented for more than 1
consecutive term.
(c) Representative of Independent Colleges and Universities: This
member must be serving as a member of the Advisory Council of Private
College Presidents, may not serve more than 2-consecutive 2-year terms, and
serves as a non-voting member.
(d) At-large Appointee: Serves as chairman, limited to 1 four-year
term.

S. 365 also specifies that the commission's purposes are to provide
overview and oversight of services provide by public higher education
institutions; to serve as an advisor to the governor and the General
Assembly, and to advocate the interests of students attending institutions
of higher learning. The bill also requires the commission to make
recommendations to the governor, instead of to the Budget and Control Board
concerning policies, financing, etc. of state-supported institutions of
higher learning, and allows the House Ways and Means Committee and Senate
Finance Committee to refer to the commission for study requests of
institutions of higher learning for new or additional appropriations for
operating or other purposes and for establishment of new or expanded
programs. Additionally, the executive director must be
appointed by the
commission and must manage and carry out the commission's duties, with the
director not subject to the State Employee Grievance Procedure Act but
subject to dismissal without cause. The commission's professional staff must
be established by the executive director, instead of by the commission.
Finally, the bill provides that terms of current members of the commission
expire next month (July 1), at which time new members would be selected in
accordance with these provisions.

Status: Approved by the Senate on March 8, 1995; approved with
amendments by the House on May 10; conference committee appointed on May 24
to work out differences between the two versions. (NOTE: Toward the end of
the regular session, the House twice rejected a motion to give the higher
education conference committee free conference powers, with several persons
opposed to free conference for S. 365 expressing concern that the bill, as
proposed by the Senate, would leave House members with no input as to
selection of commission members.)